Pretty Willie Oneshots: Walls Come Tumbling Down
by Cuz I'm Nice Like That
Summary: PWOneshot 1: First of a possible many one shots for the Pretty Willie series. 6-Months following the finale and things might never be the same.


_Hellooooo! I have ben holding onto this for many many many months. I was thinking about doing a string of oneshots with the pretty Willie character premise, but I don't know. However, this should serve the purpose of catching you up on what's happened since the finale and to kind of give you a feel of everyone's head space now that the dust seems like it is settling. As well as a couple surprises =D I have other chapters written however I feel like this has the potential of a good one-shot. I haven't written in a long time and hopefully this will get me in the mood and I'll update other stories as well. Let me know what you all think. =D_

**_Chapter 1: The Interim_**

It started with a stream of light, creeping up on his vision; invading the darkness that preserved his darkness. Then it was the footsteps that quickened his ear and opened his eyes passed the mandarin sun to see the shadows on the wall, rocking back and forth in a rhythmic motion as a tune played softly in the background.

He wondered if he was still dreaming, stretching out his arm to the other side, where his other half laid...Or was supposed to lay. When a coolness touched his fingers, immediately his sight was opened to see that she was out of bed, the bed made up and folded poignantly as if she had crept out of his presence.

"Are you okay?" He questioned softly and soon after heard the melody stop, her voice shutting down until all that could be heard was a soft coo as she leaned over to settle Charlie back into her crib, her eyes falling to a close.

Before she could even stand up right, his hands were already gliding circles around the base of her back as she lifted herself, eyes shut with the indention of a headache upon her temple. Headaches, now a formality; she paid no attention to it but he did and she could see it in his eyes as soon as she turned around to see his eyes staring back at her, hands now reaching around her waist. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She smiled weakly, adverting his eyes as they filled to a glossy beginning, her hands unconsciously squeezing at his forearms.

Fortunately he knew when she was lying.

His hand reached up at her cheek slowly, inclining her head to his chest before she fell there completely, eyes shut as silent tears slipped from her eyes to his shirt and there under.

"Daniel." She whispered, clutching at his cotton covered back as he held her close; oblivious to the internal breakdown that was beginning to eat her up from the inside out.

"Hmm?"

She shut her eyes, not even wanting to hear the admission that she was about to expel.

"I don't...I don't know who I am anymore."

**PW**

Daniel held a hand to her baby carrier, it's self being strapped to him tightly as Charlie's head laid on his chest and a cool breeze swept through the park, causing Izak to cling to Betty as they walked. Seeing the leaves strewn at their feet, they were silent...not knowing what to say to each other yet having so much to communicate.

He smiled down at his daughter as she looked up, her feet winding at his stomach as she grinned softly for absolutely no reason. No reason but happiness. He reveled in her innocence, kissing her lightly on the forehead before pressing her closer to him and stopping at a bench.

They all took note, sitting down with a beginning of silence that was none the less temporary. "I don't know what to do Betty." HE sighed, running a hand through his hair before exhaling once again into the slump of the seat.

"Daddy, can I go play?" Izak pleaded, pointing at the playground that was near meters away.

"Sure bud but be careful...And don't leave the jungle gym.." He nodded and Daniel smiled weakly before remembering something else. "And don't tell Mommy!" Izak nodded quickly before running off to the slides as Betty chuckled softly. "Wilhelmina would kill me if she knew I was letting him play in the park." He shook his head, shrugging. "She calls it the site of the sitting swine flu."

"Speaking of such...What's going on between you two...I know you didn't call me down here just to talk about Wilhelmina being a germaphobe." She probed, pulling up the cheetah splatted blanket on her god-daughter as the wind kicked up.

"Willie turns 50 today." He spoke numbly, staring at the children afar off, and Izak who seemed to be going on the same slide for the 4th time.

"Is she not taking it well?"

"I don' know...IT's just...Ever since the surgery, she's just been so... deflated...defeated almost...I don't know if she's depressed or angry or I-I don't know...She's not happy, I can tell you that much..." He shook his head, beginning to hear her soft sobs in his head from that morning all over again." She doesn't share anything with me anymore, she's quiet all the time, I haven't even heard her curse in the last 6 months Betty..." He tried to put a light spin on his revelation but knew that even that detail meant more than it's own words.

"Well Daniel, everything happened so fast...You've got to give her some time to process everything. I mean she went to sleep during labor expecting to wake up to a new baby, not a new heart...Rules were bent, even broken for her to get that heart to begin with. Dr. Smith almost lost his license, again...And most importantly, she lost her daughter and her father in 6 short months...And then had to relive it again just when she was beginning to get over everything."

"But Betty...She's so distant...reclusive...She hasn't been photographed in public for 6 months Betty...I don't even remember the last time that she left the house. There's no drive in her eyes...No sparkle...like she's just waiting for the next thing to hit her..."

"Maybe she's protecting herself."

"From me?"

"From heartache Daniel, you've got to try to understand where she is coming from...Not to mention the fact that her sister just married her ex."

"I know, I know but I wish she'd talk to me, It's like she's shutting me out of her life and I don't know y...Even when we're sleeping, it's like we're on opposite." Even beginning to describe the feeling, coolness that now paralleled in comparison to the warmth that used to reside sent an unsettling chill down his spine. "...opposite sides of the world."

She shook her head, sniffling softly. "Why don't you talk to her?"

"She's too fragile right now...I don't think she could take me telling her that I feel like we're growing apart, I mean just this morning she told me that she didn't think she knew herself anymore..."

"What?" She questioned softly with a disbelief.

"And the thing is...I believe her...She's just not the same anymore."

"Have you planned anything special for her today?"

"Well right now she's getting a massage at the house which she fiercely attempted to protest and we were invited to a Publishing charity brunch today...I was going to ask her if she wanted to come out with me after going out to lunch maybe...But I doubt she'll go for it."

"Is she ready to face the press?"

"I don't know, if she's not I know how to get her out of there but the last thing that I want to do is put any unnecessary stress on her."

"Are you stressed Daniel?"

"Huh?" He asked, probably not even knowing what that word meant concerning him; not having considered what this all was doing to him in the long run.

"Are you stressed? You've been taking care of Amalia, Izak and Wilhelmina and running Mode and Meade...Maybe a getaway could do you both some good."

"You mean, before she comes back?"

"Comes back? Back to Mode?"

"Well it's been 6 months...That was her goal."

"But you said that she doesn't feel like herself."

"Exactly and her going back like that could be disastrous .." He sighed, sliding his fingers down the sides of his nose. "Betty I just want her to be healthy...I want her to be happy...And I want to know that she still loves me." He dipped his head at his vulnerable statement, feeling Charlie nodding off against him.

"Daniel."

"Hmmm?"

"Tell her that, tell her how you feel. " She squeezed his shoulder, giving him a weak smile. "It's better than both of you sitting back, wondering if you feel the same about each other when you're both thinking the same thing."

"Betty...I think you're right."

"Daniel...I know I'm right..." He returned her smile in the same manner, appreciating the bond that they had maintained through the madness that gripped their lives. "...It's what I'm here for."

**PW**

"Willie?" He called out softly as he entered the apartment, careful not to wake the baby as Izak scurried in behind them, annoyed with his mistaken invisibility.

Not seeing her, he went on to put Charlie down in the crib that was in the bedroom, not seeing her in that room either. After the baby was situated, he peeked in on Izak to see him folding his clothes, again. He shook his head with a smile at the anal nature of their children and proceeded to roll up his button up to his elbows as he went back downstairs and to the kitchen where she now was, clad in a light and airy peachy caftan that flowed on her; cinched loosely by a suede thin rope that tied at her waist. She had pulled her hair back into a long ponytail but didn't distract him from the sight of her being barefoot. She was never barefoot.

"How was your massage?"

She looked up, closing what she was looking at and flashed her teeth, not a smile, but just a presentation of her pearly whites. "Umm..it was great...thanks...I feel somewhat better."

He nodded, walking around her to peek and see that she was staring at the stack of Modes on the counter. "You're gonna critique them?" He asked innocently.

"No...you, Marc and Sheila did an excellent job...I was just, just counting how many issues I missed."

"It wasn't that much...just-"

"Half of a year." She cut him off before turning around to mimic his position. "So...How was the park?"

"Good...good...Izak, he had fun...non-jungle gym fun..."

"You don't have to lie to me Daniel, I know you let him play on the slides, it's okay." She chuckled lightly as he exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Hey..." He stopped her, sighting her smile. "I miss that."

"Miss what?"

"Your smile." He stated bluntly yet gently.

She shrugged, looking in his eyes. "I smile..."

"No Wils, you don't...you smile but you don't _smile._"

"What about Charlie?" She changed the subject, looking at the Italian tile.

"Sound asleep..."

"Good." She nodded, stretching her lips to form a decent smile, the smiles that he just invalidated in front of her, before turning to walk away.

"Wils." He called out, making her turn around at the sight of his voice. "What do you say...to lunch today..."

"Lunch?"

"Yeah...There's this new place in Lenox Hill called the Grendani Palette, the food is amazing there and also low in calories and sodium, befitting your current diet."

"Um..."

"And then after, I was thinking that maybe we could head to a charity event at the Winston Art Museum...You know, pop in; show our faces and pop back out."

"Daniel, I don't know...I...I rea-" She stopped, seeing the dip in his mood almost immediately. Truthfully, she wanted to crawl into bed and sleep the day away. Truthfully, she wish age never mattered, existed really. Truthfully, she would rather be by herself. But truthfully, she just didn't want to hurt him. "I really think that I have to get some shoes on..." He smiled and she returned the gesture. " What about the kids...Mona won't be back for hours?"

Just as she asked, the doorbell rang and Wilhelmina turned to answer it, opening the door to see Ariel and Claire standing at the thresholds "Wilhelmina, how are you dear?" Claire asked, kissing her cheek briefly before Ariel pushed passed them both and in the house.

"No offense but I don't care about you right now, I want to see the babbyyyyy..." She sung, the last time she saw Charlie being when she was born.

"West hallway, third door on the right." Daniel responded, hugging his mom before she stood before them both, noticing the large gap between them, a barefoot Wilhelmina and a mildly tense atmosphere.

"Something wrong?" She questioned, looking between them.

They both shrugged, shaking their heads. "Nope."

"For some reason, I don't believe you."

"Stop speculating mom, we're fine."

"Kiss her." Claire demanded, her arms folded over her chest, eyes squinted at them suspiciously.

"What?" They both questioned at the same time, incredulous at her request.

"I said kiss her."

Daniel chuckled at his mother's request as did Wilhelmina, the space between them widening even the more.

"Mom what's going on?"

"Usually, by this time you two are pawing each other, conceiving more children on your dining room table, sharing gum or whatever the hell you two do...Not standing away from each other like two strangers."

"Mom, we don't have to paw each other at every waking moment."

"Since when?"

"Since..." He looked to Wilhelmina, noticing the flush in her cheeks. "Since whenever, it doesn't matter mom..."

"Nana!" Izak came marbling down the stairs in a hurry, crashing into her thin legs.

"I'm going to go and get ready."

Wilhelmina dismissed herself from the awkward moment and retreated upstairs. Hearing the door close in their bedroom, he turned his attention to his mother with confusion and a tad bit of humor at her candor. "Mom what the hell was that?"

"When is the last time that you two..." She motioned in front of her, her face contorted in disgust. Daniel squinted, still confused as she tried to get him to fill in the blanks, even going as far as to slip her finger into a thumb and index finger made hole but found that he was of no help until she just came out with it. "SEX! Sex Daniel Sex, Sex, Sex, when is the last time that you two had sex!" She exclaimed, much to her own dismay.

"What the fu-Wha-MOM, Mom what kind of question-Who asks th-What is your-"

"That long huh?"

He grumbled. "9 months, 1 week and 4 days..." He let his hand wash over his face, turning to face her. "And what is this sudden interest in our sex life."

"I know, I should be rolling around in a pit of fire trying to erase the thoughts from my head but I had to ask...As sickening as I find the thought, every time I came here I always felt as if I had either missed or just interrupted a deleted scene from Sex & The City..."

"Well mom, we've gone through a lot lately..."

"I know that son, I've been there to help you through it..But I can't help but notice how...frosty...the relationship between you two has become."

"It's a rough patch but we'll get over it..." He shrugged, fiddling with his collar. "I just have to let her grieve and recover...She'll make her way back to me."

"And what if she doesn't.

"What?"

"What if she doesn't make her way back to you Daniel, what if she stays that way?" She questioned, a panic in her voice; a panic for her son, their family, the fragile unit that they had all formed, had become comfortable with. The fragile unit that was just waiting for the big bad wolf to come and blow it all down.

He chuckled, masking the fear in his voice that only his mother could decipher. "Well it will never come to that so that's not even an issue."

Fortunately, she knew when _he_ was lying.

**PW**

She looked to her sides, seeing the glares in her direction as if she were some type of known recluse out for her walk for the decade. Her eyes diverted back to her salad, using her fork to pick at it aimlessly. He looked up and watch her actions, looking around to see that people were actually gawking at them.

"Try to ignore them." He offered, dabbing his mouth with the crisp white cloth that was folded on his lap.

"I'm trying but it's kind of hard, seeing how feels as though every bite is going to end up on Page Six tomorrow morning."

Daniel sighed, noting her shyness in public, as if her husk was shedding. As if the the skin that she now lived in wasn't even her own. "Wils, just try to enjoy this...It's our first meal out in over 6 months, come on.."

"I'm sorry Daniel..." She huffed with a sarcastic tone in her voice as she looked up at him, scrunching her eyebrows. "I didn't know that my being uncomfortable was ruining this for you."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to."

"Look, Willie I'm not used to you being..._this way..._For the last 6 months, you've been detached and timid and for reasons I don't know because you don't talk to me. I don't know what the hell is going in your head and like I said before: you don't talk to me; thus, me not understanding you...I can't read your mind Wils."

She was silent, shifting in her seat before stabbing her Mâche salad violently, the metal clank of the fork against her teeth showing the retreat of her false daintiness.

"And now I've upset you."

"It's not that you've upset me, I just didn't know that I've become such a chore to live with. It's not like you said anything to me-"

"And when could I say anything to you Wils? Before or after you almost died? Before or after you finished with the medical scares? Or when you stopped grieving your family? There was no perfect time to tell you and I don't blame you, I was being patient. I was waiting for you to come around."

"And that's the issue Daniel, that you expected me to come around when I didn't even know that you thought I had my back to you. Don't act as if I wasn't communicating with you, I told you how I felt this morning and instead of talking, you offered that I get a massage, not talk about it or explore my feelings You iced me out this morning, you- "She stopped, noting those who were beginning to pay attention to the action beginning to rise at their table. Before she could regain her composure, her phone buzzed beside her plate and she immediately hit reject upon seeing the name, returning her gaze to Daniel without noticing his eyes travelling to the screen of her phone at the same point that she did.

"Who was that?"

"No one." She shrugged off the topic and huffed, dropping her fork at her plate. "I don't think that this is the place to be having this conversation."

"Willie who was that?"

"I said no one!"

"It said New York Bureau of Corrections-Is that prick crank calling you? How the hell did he get your number?" He questioned, livid, but not at her; at Ambrossi; at what he did; at how he acted, and how it was handled.

"It's not him Daniel, relax."

"Then who do you know that'd be in jail?"

"Daniel, it's not important-"

"Who, Wilhelmina?" His voice gaining an edge.

"Connor!"

**PW**

Claire jumped at the boisterous sound, animosity spewing from the foyer as the voices rose and she looked to Ariel who held a bottle to Charlie's mouth as she suckled quietly. Without a word, Ariel moved up from the couch and grabbed Izak's hand leading him to the back stairway to avoid him see his parents go at it despite his pre-exposure to it.

Meanwhile, in the front hall, Wilhelmina had dropped her purse to the floor in a huff as she stood parallel to Daniel whose worn eyes watched as she removed her shoes like she was preparing for battle.

"Since when am I the goddamn enemy?" He exclaimed.

"I never said you were the enemy, I said that you can't blame me for not going to you because you never came to me in the first place!"

"Obviously I didn't need to, you had Connor to fucking cry your damn eyes out to!"

"IT wasn't like that Daniel, you won't even let me explain!" She yelled, following behind him into the kitchen; both of them being oblivious to Claire's presence.

"There is no explaining Wilhelmina! You can't justify talking to that asshole, especially without clearing it with me first."

"Clearing it with you?"

"Yes clearing it with me!"

"Daniel, I don't know who the fuck you've gotten me confused with in the last 6 months but let me reassure you, I may be a little lost right now but I will always have control over myself and my actions. I advise you not to take my reluctance as a weakness because if you do, you will be screwing yourself." He looked into her eyes, not seeing the deadpan that he had seen earlier that day, but a glint of who she used to be. Who she really, really used to be.

"Hell speaking of screwing, are you fucking him Wilhelmina?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me; Are you fucking Connor Owens?! Don't act confused now, act your age and woman up; answer the goddamn question. Are you fucking him!?" His eyes widened with a red-rim, displaying his lack of sleep which spoke volumes towards his rationality at that moment, He probably wasn't in the right mind nor was he in the position to be arguing with her in his state and neither was she but everything was being put on the line at that point.

They couldn't live separate lives in the same space anymore. Something had disconnected them during that 6 months, something had separated them and if they continued down their path, the gap would only continue to widen; not close.

"How could you ask me something like that? After everything that we have been through?" Her voice hit him as a whisper of disbelief, but he was too far gone to even take notice

"_BECAUSE_ of what we've been through!" He replied smugly and she knew exactly what he was implying. Immediately, he saw a flicker of rage in her eyes and he realized what he had said and what she had taken it as. "Wilh-"

He stumbled back as his face was forced to crick at the connection of her fist to his jaw in which Claire stood up immediately, having been listening through the connective door of the living room that separated that from the kitchen.

Daniel went to lift his head and stumbled back again as she slapped him hard across the face once more. "Really Daniel!" She yelled between attacks, as her hand reached up to swing at him again and he caught her wrist, inclining her to use her other hand to hit him over the head angrily. He grabbed her other wrist, trying to control her but found it increasingly difficult as she overpowered him, pushing him back with a resentment that he had never seen. "Get off of me!" She screamed at him, pulling back against his chest as she attempted to free his grip again and he tried to cease her attack but her fists came readily at his chest with a fierce aggression.

Claire began to step forward, growing concerned with the violent nature of their argument but felt a hand pull her back, turning around to see that it was Mona. "Let them fight it out."

"But they aren't fighting she's abusing him." Claire commented, still in the hold of Mona as the older pair watched from the den.

"Sometimes I hate you!" She screamed at him, continuing to pummel his body while he surrendered until finally he couldn't take it anymore either.

"No you don't!" He refuted her anger. It took him a moment to realize that she wasn't attacking him; but her own demons. He had stirred up what she hadn't dealt with and now was serving as a punching bag until he grabbed her forearms, pulling her away from him quickly to make her look him in the eyes. "Willie!" He called out, knowing that she wasn't hearing anything, she was lost, lost in her anger; in her trials and in her tribulations. "No you don't..."

He watched with gleaming eyes as she condensed in his hold, looking in his eyes to see the reflection of her own, seeing the rage in them. Her mouth went dry as she looked at him and realized that in him, she was playing it all back; that cold October night, the day in the courtroom, Nico, her father...Everything...She was piling everything in him and she had told him the truth because in that, she did hate him...What she saw when she looked at him.

And she needed to change that

Her forehead fell to his chest slowly, staining his shirt with her salt-laden tears as he wrapped his arms around her; following her to ground as she succumbed to her weak knees and truly fell against him until all that she could feel was cool tile beneath her legs and his warm embrace, the pressure of his lips against her forehead; sending a calm through her body.

Mona squeezed Claire's shoulder, seeing the woman's tearing eyes as she pulled her out of the room to allow them their privacy. Though it was hard, she had to let them handle it on their own.

He held her tight until he felt the pushing against his chest of her palms, trying to get up. He looked up in confusion, seeing her stand to look at him with weary eyes, grabbing at her face as if to try ot make sense of what was in her head. "I can't do this anymore..." She whispered to herself, the hollow feeling in her chest now morphing into a solid ball that seemed to weigh on her heart, unrelenting.

"Willie-"

"No!...You don't get to comfort me..." She shook her head at him, shrugging her shoulders in defeat. "God, how did I let this happen to me?" She mumbled, the tears still struggling in her throat.

"Willie-"

"You don't get to comfort me! You don't get to tell me how you love me when you accuse me of shit like that!" She shook with anger, her face red as the tears stilled down her face." Now I take the fault for shutting you out these past few months but that is because I am at a point in my life where I feel as though, I'm starting all over and at fifty fucking years old, it...it doesn't feel good to face that alone Daniel... But I'm dealing with it...And you say that I'm shutting you out, telling everyone BUT me. How the hell was I supposed to know how you feel. Yes there's tension, yes it's icy but you did nothing to fix that either. And the only goddamn reason that I was in touch with Connor is because he left Izak a trust fund and I was rescinding his gift, not cutting off your manhood or undermining you as a man or...fucking him." He parted his lips to speak but she lifted her finger to silence him. "But...The fact that you could easily assume that of me tells me that in the 5 years that we have been together, our relationship has meant shit!"

"Wilhelmina that's no true!"

"The hell it isn't because if you haven't trusted me this whole time than this whole fucking world we live in has been nothing more than a farce. This house, our marriage." She shook her head at him, lifting her eyes to the ceiling as he sat on the floor and she stood with her hands on her hips. "God... our kids-"

"Wilhelmina-"

"Lies..." She shook her head, stepping back from him with a gleam shining in her eyes. "...all of it."

**PW**

Claire blinked wordlessly, looking to Mona behind the wall as the older woman gave her the go ahead and she bean to walk towards him, taking small steps towards the cabinet. She pulled out a zip-loc bag before proceeded to the ice machine and allowing the bag to fill it to capacity before snapping it across the line. She looked up, seeing the pain in his tear-filled eyes as he battled within himself to understand his wife but with no know-how on where to begin. She batted at his hand from grabbing his jaw and pressed the ice firmly against his face, his eyes looking up to face her.

She really had never been privy to any of their arguments but hoped to God that each one didn't end as violently as this one. Despite her confusion over the context, what she did understand where the words Connor and Owens and an f- word that she'd rather not hear for a long time after hearing it abused in their home during moments of heated tension. From seeing them, she knew that something was off but now from seeing it, she was sure of it.

Only she still didn't know what.

He took the ice from her thankfully, squeezing her shoulder gently before marching off after her wife.

**PW**

She sat her vanity, having loosened her hair from it's ponytail until it feel straight down her shoulders in a huff. _50 years old, huh..._She grimaced at the thought, paddling a hand over her heart to feel the scar that she could try to conceal all day long, but it would always remain, Her head dipped in her reflection, not recognizing the woman in the mirror. She was looking at an insecure, self-conscious, angry woman who didn't know what to do with her life.

Many would just tell her that she had Mode, she had fashion. That she was a Fashion Nazi, an icon but she wasn't talking about out there. She was talking about the woman inside these four walls, when the shell is off, the barrier comes down and she has nothing to hide behind. She wanted to know when in these past few months did she really feel her self slip through her fingers. When did she allow her self to slip into a state of self-pity and depression to the point where she found solace in talking to Connor Owens. _Yes, she had lied. _Sure her intention of calling him was to give him back his money but when he brought up what happened in the news, it all came spilling out like lava from a volcano She broke down to him and he listened, genuinely listened. There were no underlying romantic motives or lustful speak but it was just...old friends. Truly old friends helping each other through a difficult time. She didn't know when the calls became conversations or the conversations became secret visits to the penitentiary but she did know that somehow, someway...Connor Owens; the man who broke her heart before, was somehow helping her to heal the fresh wounds that scarred her.

And despite all, she still couldn't believe that she actually hit him. That she took her fist and punched him in the face; she was in denial but knew that had she not done that, something else would have gotten broken in that moment. She was just so angry, the insinuation that she would devalue their relationship through infidelity as if she had done it before; that was to hurt her. She knew that it had to be because he knew what happened in the Bahamas with Connor...He knew what happened with Rodrigo and yet like a typical stranger he acted as if they had never trusted each other to begin with and those happenings were intentional. And that's what pissed her off, HIS devaluing of their relationship. Because without trust, she was right;

It was all a sham.

And it's not like she didn't already have doubts about the rest of her life. She was beginning to look back at her accomplishments, at the magazines, the awards and just see them as two-dimensional minorities of her life. She was beginning to realize that she couldn't continue to live life on old glories and expect that what happened before is going to happen again. That she remain at the top, that _Mode_ would be the rest of her life. And if not _Mode_, was _Slater_ really her dream or had she out-grown that? She had been torturing herself with these analogies for months, forcing her into reticence to reevaluate her motives. To stop talking for once in her life and actually listen. To step back and take accord of what was going around her.

And for that she was being criticized.

But she knew why.

She looked over at the white bassinet, hearing a whimper from it's depths and slowly walked over, peeking into see that Charlie had probably awoken from all of the commotion. She reached inside, cradling her little girl against her carefully, seeing her nestle against her chest like second nature and she couldn't begin to fathom her child, this miracle...being the product of a pseudo relationship.

"Are you okay?" She looked up, still staring ahead and never in his direction as she rocked Amalia to a comfort so that she could be placed back in her warm dwelling She did so, tracing the bridge of her nose before kissing the button of it, her eyes welling up again. She stood, turning around only to have his arms surround her in an act of protection, this time allowing him to do so.

"I shouldn't have said those things to you Wils..." He looked down at her seeing her stand still, her ear now pressed against his heartbeat. "It's just...I just feel so frustrated..." He sighed, kissing the top of her head before continuing. "When you pull away from me it scares the hell out of me Willie, I don't know what's going on in that head of yours and with everything that was going on, I thought that you thought that you were outgrowing me, like you were growing tired of being with me so you pulled away. And I didn't come to you because I was afraid that you would confirm my suspicions...Because I can't picture my life beyond you..."

"Daniel-"

"And I trust you...I really do but you can't keep secrets from me and then expect me not to get upset...What we've built together is real Wils but we have to work harder than anybody else to keep it that way." She nodded against him, closing her eyes shut as he spoke. "I don't want to grow apart." He stated calmly, admitting one of his biggest fears regarding their relationship.

"Neither do I." She assured him, lifting her head to look at him as her hand rested on his chest, leaning towards him until he captured her lips in his with ease.

"I'm not going to apologize for punching you." She assured him. "But I do love you..."

She exhaled and reprized her ear to his chest, listening to the settle of his heart as he was told that the feelings formed years ago still captured her heart in regard to him.

Because the day would end in surrender.

They had more problems, they knew.

They had issues, they knew.

They were hiding things from each other, they knew.

But in that moment ignorance was bliss; a bliss they knew to be only temporary.

**PW**

_Remember to say hi and Review =D_


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